Portable telephone

ABSTRACT

A portable telephone has a phone-book capability of storing and searching plural pieces of receiver information including character information and image information and comprises phone-book memory means for registering plural pieces of receiver information including character information and image information associated with each other; decoding means for decoding the image information stored in the phone-book memory means; display means for displaying the character information and the image information stored in the phone-book memory means; operation means for outputting a select signal in accordance with an external operation; and control means for controlling the phone-book memory means, the decoding means, the display means, and the operation means. The control means performs such control that when a plurality of select signals for selecting different pieces of receiver information from that receiver information which is currently displayed on the display means are output from the operation means continuously or over a given period of time, those character information which are included in the selected pieces of receiver information are sequentially displayed on the display means in accordance with the select signals and only that image information which corresponds to a last select signal output is decoded by the decoding means and is displayed on the display means.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/569,270,filed May 11, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,766,018 which claims the benefitof Japanese Application No. 11-131015, filed May 12, 1999, and ofJapanese Application No. 11-136458, filed May 17, 1999, and of JapaneseApplication No. 11-268938, filed Sep. 22, 1999, and of JapaneseApplication No. 11-268937, filed Sep. 22, 1999, the disclosures of whichare hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a portable telephone having aphone-book capability of registering image information, and, moreparticularly, to a technique of searching information registered in aphone book and displaying the search result.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Typical wireless communication devices, such as portable telephones,have a phone-book capability, which registers predetermined names,telephone numbers, and other personal information, and quickly reads aseries of information as needed. This phone-book capability can allow auser to make a telephone call without searching another medium, such asa printed phone directory or an address book. When a call arrives, it ispossible to compare the caller number informed by the caller with thedata registered in the portable telephone and display the correspondingname so that the user can know who the caller is before answering thecall.

Recently portable video telephones have been proposed which are capableof handling image information. This type of portable video telephonetransmits or receives voices and images simultaneously, so that thecaller and receiver can talk to each other while viewing the images sentfrom the opposite parties. Further, this portable video telephone canrecord an image received while talking or record an image that is takenby a camera incorporated into the video telephone.

Such a portable video telephone can also handle stored image informationas information attached to the registered data in the phone book. At thetime the phone book is searched for personal information, thiscapability can permit the user to conduct a search while viewing imageinformation. When a call comes, this capability can display imageinformation together with name information, helping the user understandimmediately who the caller is.

There are several ways to retrieve necessary information using thephone-book capability. They include a scheme of allowing a caller toinput information (a name or address) associated with a receiver andthen retrieving necessary information based on the input information,and a scheme of retrieving necessary information while allowing a userto confirm registered data piece by piece. According to either scheme,when the displayed retrieval result is not the intended one, theintended data is searched by scrolling the displayed information up anddown by operating, for example, scroll keys.

At this time, the phone-book capability of this portable video telephonedisplays attached image information in addition to characterinformation, such as names and telephone numbers. As image informationcontains a large amount of data, the data quantity is reduced beforestorage by subjecting the image information to coding such as the onespecified by JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group). This requires thatimage information be decoded before it is displayed. The time needed fordecoding and displaying an image is longer than the time needed fordisplaying character information.

As image decoding involves a great deal of work, there is some timedelay in displaying the next image. This prevents the user fromproceeding to the next search or disables a spontaneous response to thenext key operation during the period from the point of the previoussearch operation to the display of an associated image, thus resultingin a lower operability.

Further, there is a time lag from the display of character informationto the display of an associated image. Unless some update control iscarried out to maintain the association of character information andimage information to be displayed, therefore, the image that has beengenerated by the immediately previous operation and characterinformation resulting from the current search may be displayedsimultaneously, resulting in the mismatching of characters and an image.When character information is displayed after being updated, therefore,it is necessary to erase the image that has been displayed before theupdate.

Conventionally, when registered data contained an image, a black screenor the like was displayed, as in the case where registered data wouldcontain no image, until the image would be displayed after the displayof character information. As the display screen was imageless, such as ablack screen, for a while after the display of character information,the user could not determine whether an image corresponding to thedisplayed character information would be displayed or there was no imagecorresponding to this character information.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide aportable telephone which overcomes the aforementioned shortcomings ofthe prior art and has an improved operability and faster response speedwhile conducting a continuous search.

To achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of thisinvention, there is provided a portable telephone having a phone-bookcapability of selecting and displaying receiver information (addresseeinformation) having character information and image informationregistered therein in association with each other, wherein at the timedifferent pieces of receiver information from currently-displayedreceiver information are selected and displayed in order, those piecesof character information which are included in the selected pieces ofreceiver information are sequentially displayed in association with theselected pieces of receiver information and only that image informationwhich corresponds to the last-selected receiver information isdisplayed.

As this portable telephone performs a display process only on the imageinformation that corresponds to the receiver information which has beenacquired last in a continuous search of receiver information includingimage information, it is possible to improve the operability andresponse speed at the time of conducting a continuous search.

In this case, at the time of selecting and displaying receiverinformation different from currently-displayed receiver information,image information which does not depend on receiver information may bedisplayed until that image information which is included in the selectedreceiver information is displayed.

Alternatively, at the time of selecting and displaying receiverinformation different from currently-displayed receiver information, ascreen for displaying image information may be turned off or darkeneduntil that image information which corresponds to the selected receiverinformation is displayed.

According to the second aspect of this invention, there is provided aportable telephone which comprises phone-book memory means forregistering plural pieces of receiver information including characterinformation and image information associated with each other; decodingmeans for decoding the image information stored in the phone-book memorymeans; display means for displaying the character information and theimage information stored in the phone-book memory means; operation meansfor outputting a select signal in accordance with an external operation;and control means for controlling the phone-book memory means, thedecoding means, the display means, and the operation means, andperforming such control that when a plurality of select signals forselecting different pieces of receiver information from that receiverinformation which is currently displayed on the display means are outputfrom the operation means continuously or over a given period of time,these character information which is included in the selected pieces ofreceiver information are sequentially displayed on the display means inaccordance with the select signals and only that image information whichcorresponds to a last select signal output is decoded by the decodingmeans and is displayed on the display means.

In this case, when a plurality of select signals for selecting differentpieces of receiver information from that receiver information which iscurrently displayed on the display means is output from the operationmeans, the control means may perform such control as to display imageinformation which does not depend on receiver information on the displaymeans until that image information which corresponds to a last selectsignal output from the operation means is decoded by the decoding meansand is displayed on the display means.

In the portable telephone according to the second aspect of thisinvention, the display means may have an area for displaying characterinformation and an area for displaying image information, and when aplurality of select signals for selecting different pieces of receiverinformation from that receiver information which is currently displayedon the display means are output from the operation means, the controlmeans may perform such control as to turn off or darken the area of thedisplay means for display image information until that image informationwhich corresponds to a last select signal output from the operationmeans is decoded by the decoding means and is displayed on the displaymeans.

In the portable telephone according to the second aspect of thisinvention, when image information in that receiver information which iscurrently displayed on the display means does not coincide with imageinformation in that receiver information which corresponds to a selectsignal output from the operation means, the decoding means may decodethe latter image information.

According to the third aspect of this invention, there is provided aportable telephone which has a phone-book capability of storing pluralpieces of character information, such as names and telephone numbers,and image information associated with the character information andsearching the storage contents, and comprises operation means forinputting an operation instruction for searching a phone book; measuringmeans for measuring an input interval between inputs made through theoperation means; and control means for controlling a time for startingthe decoding of image information in accordance with the input intervalof the operation means.

As this portable telephone varies the delay time till the beginning ofan image decoding process based on the key-signal input interval, it ispossible to reduce the frequency of the process of stopping the imagedecoding process, thus reducing the load on the search process andensuring a smoother operability.

According to the fourth aspect of this invention, there is provided aportable telephone which has a phone-book capability of storing pluralpieces of character information, such as names and telephone numbers,and image information associated with the character information andsearching the storage contents, and comprises operation means having anoperation key or a plurality of buttons; image decoding means forperforming a decoding process on the image information stored in a codedform; and control means for performing a general control of the portabletelephone and starting the decoding process on that image informationwhich corresponds to a current search result when detecting that theoperation of the operation means is released (release signal) while thephone-book capability is used in a search.

With this structure, because the image decoding/displaying process isstarted based on the release signal from the operation means, it ispossible to omit a process of decoding unnecessary images at the time ofusing the phone-book capability in a search and the process of stoppingthis decoding process, and to perform decoding only on the imageinformation that corresponds to whatever information is selected by auser. This can stabilize the search speed and ensure a smootheroperability.

This portable telephone of the fourth aspect may further comprise atimer for measuring a predetermined time, whereby when detecting thatthe operation of the operation means is released, the control means mayperform such control as to start the decoding process on that imageinformation which corresponds to the search result after the timermeasures the predetermined time.

In this case, as image decoding is stopped until the predetermined timespecified by the time since the outputting of the release signal, it ispossible to spontaneously respond to a re-manipulation of the operationmeans for a search operation.

According to the fifth aspect of this invention, there is provided aportable telephone which comprises phone-book memory means forregistering plural pieces of receiver information including characterinformation and image information associated with each other; displaymeans for displaying the character information and the image informationstored in the phone-book memory means; operation means for outputting aselect signal in accordance with an external operation; detection meansfor detecting if image information corresponding to that receiverinformation which has been selected by an operation of the operationmeans is registered; and control means for outputting a display to theeffect that the image information corresponding to the selected receiverinformation is not registered to the display means when the detectionmeans outputs information indicating that the image informationcorresponding to the selected receiver information is not registered.

According to this portable telephone, because the display of characterinformation acquired as a result of a search is made to vary dependingon whether or not an image is included in the registered data acquiredas the search result, it is possible to determine if an image isincluded in the retrieved registered data. This allows the user to avoidwaiting unnecessarily for an image to be displayed when no image ispresent in the retrieved registered data, thus improving the operabilityof the phone book in the portable telephone.

According to the sixth aspect of this invention, there is provided aportable telephone which comprises phone-book memory means forregistering plural pieces of receiver information including characterinformation and image information associated with each other; displaymeans for displaying the character information and the imageinformation; operation means for outputting a select signal inaccordance with an external operation; detection means for detecting ifimage information corresponding to that receiver information which hasbeen selected by an operation of the operation means is registered;display-information memory means for storing display informationindicating that the image information corresponding to the selectedreceiver information is not registered and display informationindicating that the image information corresponding to the selectedreceiver information is registered; and control means for selecting adisplay content to be output from the display-information memory meansbased on an output of the detection means and displaying the selecteddisplay content on the display means.

In this case, the control means may perform such control as to outputthe display information indicating that the image informationcorresponding to the selected receiver information is registered to thedisplay means before the image information corresponding to the selectedreceiver information is output to the display means.

According to the portable telephone of the fifth aspect or sixth aspectof this invention, at least one of the display information indicatingthat the image information corresponding to the selected receiverinformation is not registered and the display information indicatingthat the image information corresponding to the selected receiverinformation is registered may be character information.

According to the portable telephone of the fifth aspect or sixth aspectof this invention, the phone-book memory means may be storing indexinformation about how the receiver information and the image informationare registered, and based on the index information, the detection meansmay detect if image information is registered in the receiverinformation selected by the operation of the operation means.

In this case, it is possible to easily detect whether a registered imageis standing by for the display process after a search operation or thereis no registered image available as a search result and the displayprocess has been finished.

The present invention further relates to computer readable media onwhich are stored embodiments of the present invention. It iscontemplated that any media suitable for storing instructions is withinthe scope of the present invention. By way of example, such media maytake the form of magnetic, optical, or semiconductor media. Theinvention also relates to data structures that contain embodiments ofthe present invention, and to the transmission of data structurescontaining embodiments of the present invention

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a portable telephone according toa first embodiment of this invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are flowcharts illustrating a routine which is carried outat the time of searching a phone book;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a routine from the point when areserved image has been determined to the point when the image isdisplayed on the screen;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are timing charts for a search of the phone book and fordisplaying an image;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of a phone-book search;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a portable telephone according toa second embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 8 is a graph showing the relationship between a key-signal inputinterval and a delay time for the initiation of decoding;

FIG. 9 is a graph depicting a problem to be solved by this embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a portable telephone accordingto a third embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the process of a phone-bookcapability when a search is initiated;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating the process of the phone-bookcapability when the search is ended;

FIG. 13 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of this portabletelephone while searching a phone book;

FIG. 14 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of a conventionalportable telephone while searching a phone book;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a portable telephone according to afourth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating the process of a phone-bookcapability;

FIG. 17 is a timing chart illustrating the operation of this portabletelephone while searching a phone book; and

FIGS. 18 and 19 are diagrams showing display examples of a phone-booksearch.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a portable telephone (portablevideo telephone) according to a first embodiment of this invention. Thistelephone has an operation input section 3 having keys, buttons, dialsand so forth which a user can operate, and a control section 4. Inresponse to a search request signal from the operation input section 3,the control section 4 searches the registered data based on phone-booksort information 2.

Based on data of the search result, the control section 4 readsinformation corresponding to the search result data from a phone-bookcharacter-information memory section 5 and a phone-bookimage-information memory section 10 and displays the information on adisplay section 9. The display section 9, which is constructed by adisplay device such as a liquid crystal display, comprises acharacter-information display section 8 and an image-information displaysection 13. Character information read from the phone-bookcharacter-information memory section 5 is processed so as to have adisplay format which is determined by a display data processing section6 and is then displayed on the character-information display section 8.Image information read from the phone-book image-information memorysection 10 is decoded by an image decoding section 11 and is thendisplayed on the image-information display section 13.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are flowcharts illustrating the display process of thisportable telephone which is carried out at the time of searching a phonebook. In FIGS. 2 and 3, “currently-displayed image” means an image whichis currently displayed, and “currently-decoded image” means an imagewhich is currently decoded. Further, “reserved image” means an imagewhich will be subjected to a display process, such as decoding anddisplaying, after a given time measured by a timer or the like.Furthermore, “black image” includes a display screen which indicatesthat the image of a search result is not displayed, an all-black displayscreen, a state in which only a given image is displayed, a state inwhich the backlight is darkened or turned off, and a state in which thedisplay section 9 is powered off. A process which is carried out whenthe time set in a timer elapses is illustrated in FIG. 4.

The term image as used herein is intended to encompass all formats inwhich graphical data may be stored and conveyed. An image may comprise,without limitation, image data stored as a single or static image, imagedata stored as multiple, sequential images; and image data involvingmotion or video clips. The image data may be structured and stored inaccordance with any appropriate graphic file format. Static images maybe stored as, for example, a JPEG (joint photographic experts group)file, a GIF (graphic interchange format) file, a TIFF (tagged image fileformat) file, or as any other appropriate file format. Video clips maybe stored as, for example, an MPEG (motion picture experts group) file,an animated GIF file, an AVI (audio/video interleaved) file, or as anyother appropriate file format.

The present invention also embraces types of data other than image datathat are stored and structured in decoding intensive formats. Inaddition to images, for example, distinctive audio files or sound bytesmay be associated with contacts stored in the portable phone and playedwhen calls or messages arrive, or as the user searches his contactinformation.

While the present invention is described primarily with reference todata stored in the phone book of a portable phone, its principles may beapplied to any data repository structure. For example, image (static orvideo) or sound files for a user's contacts may also be associated withmessages from those contacts in the messaging in-box portion of thephone. Hence, when a message arrives from an individual for whom imageand/or sound files are stored, that image or sound file may be shown orplayed. Moreover, message attachments, such as images (static or video)and sound files, may be associated with messages in the messagingin-box. In this case, the presentation of such attachments may becarried out according to the techniques disclosed herein.

When the control section 4 acquires search result data as a consequenceof a search operation performed by an operator or user, first, characterinformation is displayed on the character-information display section 8.Thereafter, situation-dependent image processing is executed.

The broken-line block A in FIG. 2 indicates a process for the case wherethere is a “currently-decoded image”. In FIG. 3, the broken-line block Bindicates a process for the case where there is no “currently-decodedimage” but there is a “reserved image”, and the broken-line block Cindicates a process for the case where there is neither a“currently-decoded image” nor a “reserved image”.

When the user inputs a search request through the operation inputsection 3, first, character information is displayed (S1) and it is thendetermined if there is a currently-decoded image (S2).

When there is a currently-decoded image in step S2, it is determined ifthis currently-decoded image is the requested image (S3). When thedecision result is negative (NO), this decoding is stopped (S4). Then,it is determined if the currently-displayed image is the requested image(S5). When the decision result is negative, the screen is made black (S6and S7). Then, the requested image is registered as an image (reservedimage) whose decoding should start after a given time (S8) and the timeris activated (S9). After the given time set in the timer passes, therequested image is displayed on the image-information display section13.

When there is no currently-decoded image in step S2, it is determined instep S10 in FIG. 3 whether or not there is a reserved image whosedecoding should start after the given time.

When there is such a reserved image, it is determined if the displayscreen is currently black (S11). When the display screen is not black,the screen is made black (S12) and the previously registered reservedimage is deleted. Then, the requested image that is acquired through thesearch is registered as a reserved image (S13) and the timer which isoperating is stopped and is activated again (S14). After the given timeset in the timer elapses, the requested image is displayed on theimage-information display section 13.

When it is determined in step S10 that there is no reserved image, it isthen determined if the image of the search result (requested image)differs from a currently-displayed image (S15). When those images differfrom each other, the screen of the image-information display section 13is made black (S16 and S17). Then, it is determined again if the imageof the search result (requested image) differs from acurrently-displayed image (S18). When those images differ from eachother, decoding the requested image is initiated (S19). When there is nosearch request made through the operation input section 3 until thedecoding is completed, the decoded image is displayed on theimage-information display section 13. When there is a match in thedecision in step S18, there is no corresponding image informationregistered in the phone book so that the image-information displaysection 13 is kept black.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a routine from the point when areserved image has been determined to the point when the image isdisplayed on the screen. When the predetermined time set in the timerpasses in step S14, it is determined if there is a reserved image (S21).When the decision result is affirmative (YES), it is checked if thereserved image differs from the currently-displayed image (S22). Whenboth images differ from each other, the screen is made black (S23 andS24). An image may not be attached to the information that is to bedisplayed. In consideration of this case, therefore, it is checked againif the reserved image (which is black if no image is attached to theinformation) differs from the currently-displayed image (S25). When bothimages differ from each other, decoding the reserved image is started(S26). If no reserved image is present in step S21, if the reservedimage matches with the currently-displayed image in step S22, or if bothimages are black in step S25, the timer is stopped (S27) and the routineis terminated.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate timing charts for a search of the phone bookand for displaying an image. The diagrams show, from the top, (1) thetiming at which the search result is selected in accordance with asearch operation, (2) the state where character information isdisplayed, (3) the activated, operating, and stopped, states of thetimer, (4) the state where an image, which is subjected to a displayprocess (decoding process) when the time set in the timer passes, isregistered, (5) the started, progressing, stopped and terminated statesof the decoding process, and (6) the state in which image information isdisplayed. The downward arrows in those figures indicate mutually linkedprocesses. Of the left-to-right lines, each thick line indicates aprocess in progress while each broken line indicates the remaining partof the process that has been stopped halfway. The capital lettersidentify registered data of the search result and the same capitalletter indicates the same registered data. The word “black” representsan image display or a screen state (black screen) which is not relatedto the registered data of the search result.

FIG. 5A shows the case where a search request is input with a sufficienttime interval after the previous image display has been completed. Whena search request for phone-book data B is input, for example, decodingis started immediately and the phone-book data B is displayed uponcompletion of the decoding process. When the next search request (forphone-book data C) is subsequently received, decoding and displayingprocesses are similarly executed.

FIG. 5B shows the case where a series of search requests are inputwithout a sufficient time interval therebetween. When a new searchrequest for phone-book data C is input while the phone-book data Brequest first is being decoded, the decoding of the previous phone-bookdata B is stopped, the newly selected phone-book data C is registered asa reserved image whose decoding should be started after a given time andthe timer is then activated. When a new search request for phone-bookdata D is input while this phone-book data C is being decoded, thedecoding of the phone-book data C is stopped, the phone-book data D isnewly registered as a reserved image and the timer is reactivated. Whensearch requests for phone-book data E and phone-book data F have beenmade thereafter and when there is no new search request made until thetime set in the timer passes after the registration of the last reservedimage (F), decoding of the last reserved image (phone-book data F) isinitiated and is displayed upon completion of the decoding process.

The above scheme reduces the decoding-oriented burden on the portabletelephone and can thus prevent an input operation for a search frombeing temporarily disabled or the display associated with the inputoperation from being delayed. This can ensure a smooth continuous searchof the phone book.

FIG. 6 exemplifies the displayed screens at the time a continuous searchin FIG. 5B is conducted. The upper portion of each screen shows the nameand telephone number as the search result and the lower part shows theimage of the search result.

While a continuous search is conducted (from the selection of B to theselection of F in FIG. 5B), the process of displaying an image is notcarried out so that the image-information display section 13 shows thescreen (black image) that is not related to the search result. Thisprovides this portable telephone with the same operability and responsecharacteristic as those of a portable telephone which is not equippedwith the image-information display section 13. When the continuoussearch is stopped, the image that has been finally retrieved isdisplayed.

Second Embodiment

The second embodiment of this invention will now be described. Thesecond embodiment can overcome the following problem. According to thestructure that activates the timer upon operation of the individual keysand starts decoding image information after a given time set in thetimer in a continuous search as done in the first embodiment, when thefollowing key operation is done during decoding, it is necessary toperform a process of stopping the decoding process in parallel to theexecution of a process of displaying the screen which is associated withthis key operation. This puts a burden on the control section and thuslowers the operability.

This point will now be discussed with reference to FIG. 9. The verticalscale in the figure represents the delay time (timer activation time)from the input of a key signal to the initiation of decoding of imageinformation based on the key-signal oriented search result, and thehorizontal scale represents the interval of key operations (clickinterval). A thick line Y2 indicates the set delay time up to thebeginning of decoding of an image, and a line Y3 indicates the time fromthe point when the time set in the timer has elapsed from the keyoperation to the point when the associated screen is displayed.Therefore, the time Y3 minus the time Y2 represents the time needed forimage decoding and screen displaying. X2 shows the click intervalequivalent to the delay time (Y2) up to the start of the decodingprocess and X3 shows the click interval equivalent to the time (Y3) fromthe point of the key operation to the point of displaying the screen.

When the click interval (X) is shorter than X2 (X0≦X<X2), there is akey-signal input before decoding starts. In this case, thedecoding/displaying process is not started and only a process associatedwith the next key-signal input is carried out.

When the click interval (X) is longer than X3 (X>X3), a key signal isinput after image decoding and screen displaying have been completed. Inthis case too, only a process associated with the next key-signal inputis carried out.

When the click interval (X) is longer than X2 but shorter than X3(X2≦X≦X3), there is a next key-signal input during image decoding andscreen displaying. This requires image decoding and screen displaying bestopped when a key signal is input. If the timing for continuouslyinputting key signals occurs frequently between X2 and X3, the controlsection is burdened with the process of stopping the imagedecoding/displaying process every time a key signal is input. Thisimpairs the operability in a search and the search-oriented displayingprocess. The second embodiment of this invention is designed to resolvethis shortcoming.

As shown in FIG. 7, the portable telephone according to this embodimentcomprises a phone-book sort information section 21, an operation inputsection 22, a control section 23, a phone-book character-informationmemory 24, a display data processing section 25, a display section 27, aphone-book image-information memory section 28, an image decodingsection 29 and a decoding delay calculating section 31. The displaysection 27 has a character-information display section 26 and animage-information display section 30.

In response to a search request from the operation input section 22, thecontrol section 23 searches registered data to read the desiredcharacter information from the phone-book character-information memory24, processes the character information in the display data processingsection 25, and displays the processed information on thecharacter-information display section 26 of the display section 27.

When there is image information associated with the search result, thecontrol section 23 starts a delay timer that determines the timing ofstarting the decoding of an image. When the time set in the delay timerelapses, the control section 23 reads image information from thephone-book image-information memory section 28, causes the imagedecoding section 29 to perform the decoding process on the imageinformation, and displays the resultant information on theimage-information display section 30. At this time, the decoding delaycalculating section 31 calculates the delay time to the beginning of theimage decoding/displaying process based on the input interval ofoperation signals from the operation input section 22 and the controlsection 23 sets a delay time in the timer based on the calculated delaytime.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing the relationship between a key-signal inputinterval and a delay time to the initiation of decoding that isdetermined by the control section 23.

The vertical scale in FIG. 8 represents the delay time (time set in thetimer) from the input of a key signal to the initiation of imagedecoding, and the horizontal scale represents the time interval of keysignal inputs (click interval). The thick lines in the graph indicatethe delay time to the start of image decoding.

In general, when a user uses the phone-book capability or the like tocheck (search) plural pieces of registered data by scrolling the screenor continuous display selection, the user often sequentially makes keyinputs (to scroll the screen or instruct a display selection) at nearlyconstant intervals that vary from one user to another until the userfinds the target registered data. Given that the value of the mostfrequent key-input interval in such a case is X2, the probability of thekey-input time interval during searching has a peak at X2 and becomeslower toward the minimum value X1 and maximum value X4 as indicated by adistribution graph a in FIG. 8 (which is a schematic diagram).

Given that the delay time (timer activation time) on the vertical scalecorresponding to the most frequent value X2 is Y3 and the delay timesrespectively corresponding to the minimum value X1 and maximum value X4are Y1 and Y4, the key-input time interval can be expressed by adistribution graph b in FIG. 8.

If a key signal is input at an interval of X2, it becomes necessary tostop image decoding at the time of the next key input unless a decodingstart delay time X_(WAIT) is made longer than Y3. Because key inputs maynot necessarily be made at an interval of X2, a given delay time (Y2) isadded to the decoding start delay time X_(WAIT).

In an exceptional case where the key-input time interval duringsearching is long, the minimum interval to permit sufficient imagedecoding until the next key input is X3. In this case, while it isessentially desirable to initiate image decoding right after a keysignal is input, a given delay time (Y2) is provided in order to enhancethe operability when a next key signal is input suddenly.

That is, this embodiment controls the decoding start delay time X_(WAIT)as follows.X _(WAIT) =X+Y2(X≦X3)  (1)X _(WAIT) =Y2(X>X3)  (2)

When the decoding start delay time X_(WAIT) is controlled this way, thedecoding start delay time X_(WAIT) for a key signal input at the clickinterval X2 that has the highest probability becomes X2+Y2 and imagedecoding is not performed when the next key-input interval is less thanX2+Y2. When the key-input interval is less than X2+Y2, therefore, aspontaneous response to the key input is possible. When the key-inputinterval becomes equal to or greater than X2+Y2, it can be consideredthat the search has been established and the associated image will bedisplayed.

If the click interval is as quick as X1, the decoding start delay timeX_(WAIT) becomes X1+Y2, so that the time until the beginning of imagedecoding and the time until the display of an image is decreased byX2−X1 compared to the case where the click interval is X2. That is, whenthe click interval is short, the display of image information becomescorrespondingly quicker.

When the key-input time interval during searching is very long (equal toor greater than X3) so that image decoding can be carried outsufficiently by the next key input, the decoding start delay timeX_(WAIT) is set to a constant value of Y2. In this case, only when thenext key input is made within an interval less than Y2, a spontaneousresponse is made to the key input, but images are displayed one at atime otherwise. The latter case is based on the assumption that the usermakes a search while checking images one by one.

As is apparent from the above, the portable telephone of this embodimenthas the following advantage. In a case of a fast and continuous search,the delay time up to the beginning of image decoding is made longer inproportion to the click interval, so that the probability of stoppingimage decoding becomes lower. In a case where a slow search is made, thedelay time up to the beginning of image decoding is made shorter thanthe search interval to allow image decoding/displaying to be finishedbefore a next key input is made. This also makes the probability ofstopping image decoding lower.

The feature of this embodiment can prevent image displaying from beingdelayed more than needed and can thus improve the operability in asearch operation.

Third Embodiment

The third embodiment of this invention will now be discussed. The thirdembodiment can overcome the following problem.

With the use of a portable telephone having a capability of scrollingphone-book data, a user can consecutively scroll phone-book data bydepressing the operation key longer than the normal time and stopscrolling by releasing the operation key the instant the target data isdisplayed. Therefore, the CPU determines that the scroll-involveddisplay is intended when a given time passes since the first depressionof the operation key and determines that scrolling should be stoppedwhen the operation key is released.

Conventionally, image decoding would start immediately upon the firstdepression of the operation key. If a given time until thescroll-involved display starts is shorter than the decoding time,therefore, it is necessary to execute a process of stopping imagedecoding or the like when the display mode is switched to the scrollingdisplay mode. As this decoding stopping process overlaps the scrollingdisplay control, there occurs an undesirable slight delay in the displayof character information immediately after the mode change to thescrolling display mode.

This shortcoming will now be discussed specifically referring to FIG.14, which illustrates a process in the case where image decoding startsafter a given time elapses from the input of a key-depression signal(including a long-depression signal and a repeat signal). In response tothe first depression (1), character information corresponding to asearch A is displayed and at the same time the timer is activated. Uponpassing of the delay time set in the timer, image decoding starts. Whenthe key is kept depressed, however, the CPU outputs a long-depressionsignal (2) to demand the halting of the image decoding. Therefore, theburden of stopping image decoding results in slight delay in displayingcharacter information corresponding to a search B. When the key is keptdepressed thereafter, a repeat signal to display the next information isinput and the deactivation and activation of the timer are performedevery time the signal input is made. Consequently, the display time forcharacter information associated with the search B immediately after themode change to the scroll-involved search mode becomes shorter than thatfor character information associated with the subsequent searches C andD.

One solution to such a shortcoming is to display character informationassociated with the search B prior to the process of stopping imagedecoding. This scheme does not however overcome the shortcoming in thecase where the depression of the operation section is released after thelong-depression signal (2) has been output (after the scroll-involveddisplay has been started) and the operation section is quickly depressedagain. In this case, because the process of halting image decoding hasbeen performed prior to the process of displaying character informationcorresponding to the new depression of the operation section, displayingthe character information is delayed. The third embodiment can overcomeeven such a problem.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the process of the phone-bookcapability of a portable telephone according to the third embodiment ofthis invention. This telephone comprises a phone-book sort informationsection 41, an operation input section 42, a control section 43, aphone-book character-information memory 44, a display data processingsection 45, a display section 47, a phone-book image-information memorysection 48, and an image decoding section 49. The display section 47 hasa character-information display section 46 and an image-informationdisplay section 50.

In response to a search request from the operation input section 42, thecontrol section 43 searches registered data based on information in thephone-book sort information section 41. When a search request from theoperation input section 42 is a key-depression signal, a long-depressionsignal or a repeat signal, the control section 43 reads informationwhich can be displayed immediately, such as character information, fromthe phone-book character-information memory 44, processes the characterinformation in the display data processing section 45, and displays theprocessed information on the character-information display section 46 ofthe display section 47. When a search request from the operation inputsection 42 is a release signal, the control section 43 starts the delaytimer to delay the initiation of image decoding, reads image informationfrom the phone-book image-information memory section 48 when the timeset in the delay timer elapses, causes the image decoding section 49 todecode the image information, and displays the resultant information onthe image-information display section 50.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the process of the phone-bookcapability at the beginning of a search according to this embodiment.

When a user makes an input for a search operation (key depression, longdepression, or repeat), character information of the result of therequested search is displayed (S101). At this time, when decoding ofimage information is in progress (S102) and when the display-requestedimage retrieved (requested image) does not match with thecurrently-decoded image (S103), the image decoding is stopped (S104).When the image that is being displayed then differs from the requestedimage, the display is temporarily made black (S105 to S1107). Then, therequested image is registered as a reserved image (an image to bedecoded and displayed next) (S108). When the timer for delaying thebeginning of image decoding is in operation at that time, the timer isstopped (S109).

When no image decoding is taking place in step S102 and thecurrently-displayed image differs from the requested image, the displayis temporarily made black and the requested image is registered as areserved image (S110 to S112). When the timer for delaying the beginningof image decoding is in operation at that time, the timer is stopped(S113).

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating the process of the phone-bookcapability of a portable video telephone according to the thirdembodiment at the time a search is ended. When the control section 43detects a release signal indicating a user's operation for stopping acontinuous search (e.g., release of the depressed operation button orlever), the control section 43 first determines if there is a reservedimage to be decoded (S201). In this step, the control section 43 checkswhether or not image information corresponding to the search result isregistered as a reserved image. When there is a reserved image, thecontrol section 43 determines if this reserved image coincides with thecurrently-displayed image (S202), and starts the delay timer to delaythe beginning of decoding of the reserved image (S203). When the timeset in the timer elapses without any interruption signal generated fromthe operation section (S204), decoding the reserved image starts (S205)and image information is displayed after decoding is completed.

FIG. 13 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of this portablevideo telephone of the third embodiment at the time of searching thephone book. The diagram shows, from the top, the timing at which asearch-operation signal is input, the search result, the display stateof character information, the point of activation, the in-operationstate and the stopped state of the timer, the beginning, the in-progressstate and the stopped/finished state of image decoding, and the displaystate of image information. The upward and downward arrows in FIG. 13indicate mutually linked processes. The capital letters identify theregistered data of the search result and the same capital letterindicates the same registered data.

When the user starts searching the phone book, first, the characterinformation of a search result A associated with the first operation(depression (1)) is displayed and a black image is displayed. When theuser keeps depressing the operation section to perform a continuoussearch, the CPU determines that it is a long depression (2). Thereafter,while the operation section is kept depressed, a repeat signal is outputat a given interval. With regard to the search result originating fromthe long depression (2) and the repeat signal, character informationalone is updated and displayed. When the user thereafter releases thedepressed operation section to stop the continuous search, a releasesignal is output to activate the timer that determines the beginning ofimage decoding. When the time set in the timer elapses, the imagedecoding and displaying processes are started and an image is displayedafter decoding is completed.

As apparent from the above, the third embodiment can assure a smoothoperability by eliminating a burden in image decoding during ascroll-involved search.

Fourth Embodiment

The fourth embodiment of this invention will now be discussed. FIG. 15is a block diagram showing the process of a phone-book capabilityaccording to the fourth embodiment. In response to a search request froman operation input section 63, a control section 64 searches registereddata based on phone-book sort information 62. Then, by referring tophone-book-image registered information 74, the control section 64determines whether or not an image is registered in the registered dataof the search result. Based on the search result and the result of thisdecision on a registered image, the control section 64 reads informationcorresponding to the search result from a phone-bookcharacter-information memory section 65 and/or a phone-bookimage-information memory section 70 and displays the resultantinformation on a display section 69.

The character information read from the phone-book character-informationmemory section 65 is processed to have a predetermined display format ina display data processing section 66. The processed information is thendisplayed on a character-information display section 68. The imageinformation read from the phone-book image-information memory section 70is decoded by an image decoding section 71 and is then displayed on animage-information display section 73. At this time, when it is decidedin the aforementioned decision that no image is registered, a selectingsection 75 changes the display of the display section 69 as defined indisplay information 76 for a registered case. When an image isregistered, on the other hand, the selecting section 75 changes thedisplay of the display section 69 as defined in display information 77for an unregistered case (see FIGS. 18 and 19). It is assumed that thedisplay information 76 and the display information 77 define differentinformation.

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart for the process of the phone-book capabilityaccording to the fourth embodiment. When a search result originatingfrom the input for a search operation which has been made by a user isobtained, character information is displayed first (S301). Next, it isdetermined whether or not an image is registered in the registered dataor the search result (S302). When no image is registered, an image foran unregistered case is displayed (S306), after which the process isterminated. When an image is registered, on the other hand, an image fora registered case is displayed (S303), and the process of displaying(decoding) the registered image is started (S304). When the displayingprocess (the decoding process) for the registered image is completed,the image for a registered case is switched to the registered image.

FIG. 17 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the fourthembodiment at the time of searching the phone book. The diagram shows,from the top, (1) the timing at which a search result is selectedaccording to a search operation, (2) the display state of characterinformation, (3) the point of activation, the in-operation state, andthe stopped state of the timer, (4) the registered state of an imagewhich is to be subjected to the displaying process (decoding process)when the time set in the timer elapses, (5) the beginning, thein-progress state, the stopped state, and the finished state of imagedecoding, and (6) the display state of image information. The downwardarrows in this diagram indicate mutually linked processes. Of theleft-to-right lines, each thick line indicates a process in progress.The capital letters identify the registered data of the search resultand the same capital letter indicates the same registered data. Notethat no image is registered in registered data B, C and E while an imageis registered in registered data A and D.

The display of characters is updated for each search. With regard to thedisplay of an image, when no image is registered in the registered data(registered data B, C, or E), an image for an unregistered case isdisplayed. When an image is registered in registered data (registereddata A or D), an image for a registered case is displayed and theprocess of displaying (decoding) the registered image is initiated.

FIG. 18 exemplifies the display of the phone book of a portable videotelephone according to the fourth embodiment. In this example, when datawhich has no image registered is selected (when B, C or E is selected),the image display screen is made black. When data which has an imageregistered is selected (when D is selected), the image display screen ismade gray. When image decoding is completed so that the registered imagebecomes displayable, the gray screen is erased and the registered imageis displayed.

FIG. 19 exemplifies the display of the phone book according to amodification of the fourth embodiment, which results from the operationillustrated in FIG. 17. In this example, when displaying characterinformation in registered data which has an image registered therein, amark (character information or image information) indicating thepresence of an image is displayed on the screen. This can allow a userto grasp whether or not an image is registered in the registered data,at the time the character information of the search result is displayed.

According to the fourth embodiment, at the time of displayingimage-unregistered data, the image display screen is made black, butthis method is not restrictive and any other method may be used insteadas long as it indicates that no image is registered. For instance, whenno image is registered, the luminance level of the backlight of a liquidcrystal display device may be changed to make the display brighter ordarker.

Although only four embodiments of this invention have been describedherein, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that thoseembodiments are in no way restrictive and this invention may be embodiedin many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scopeof the invention. For example, the structures of the four embodimentsmay be combined as needed or a well-known structure may be added tothose structures.

1. A wireless communication device comprising: a control sectionconfigured for retrieving character information associated withdecoding-intensive information from a data repository structure anddisplaying the character information and the associateddecoding-intensive information only in accordance with key operation,said control section further comprising: a means for making the delaytime up to a beginning of image decoding longer in proportion to a clickinterval in a fast and continuous search, and a means for making thedelay time up to the beginning of image decoding shorter than the searchinterval in a slow search; a means for updating said characterinformation alone with regards to long depression and means foroutputting a release signal to activate a timer that determinesbeginning of image decoding; and a means for determining whether animage is registered in a registered data of a search result referring tophone-book-image registered information and a means for readinginformation corresponding to a decision result from a phone-book-imageinformation memory section; a character display section wherein thecharacter information only is displayed during said continuous searchoperation based on the key operation, and a decoding-intensive displaysection that is associated with the decoding-intensive informationcorresponding to a currently-displayed character, wherein thedecoding-intensive information is decoded and displayed only after apredetermined time interval from the a key input elapses without anotherkey input.
 2. A wireless communication device as claimed in claim 1,wherein the decoding-intensive information comprises a static image datafile according to a registered display information or an unregistereddisplay information.
 3. A wireless communication device as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the decoding-intensive information comprises a motionvideo data file.
 4. A wireless communication device as claimed in claim1, wherein the decoding-intensive information comprises an audio file.5. A wireless communication device as claimed in claim 1, wherein thedata repository structure is a phone book.
 6. A wireless communicationdevice as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data repository structure is amessaging in-box.
 7. A wireless communication device as claimed in claim1, wherein the continuous search operation is activated by continuousdepression of a key and a display mode is switched to a scrollingdisplay mode.
 8. A wireless communication device as claimed in claim 1,wherein the continuous search operation is activated by repetitivedepression of a key.
 9. A method for searching character information anddecoding-intensive information stored in a data repository structure ofa portable telephone comprising: receiving input commands for searchingthe data repository structure; displaying character information inresponse to the input commands on a screen; measuring time intervalsbetween the input commands; decoding the decoding-intensive informationin accordance with the measured time intervals; displaying thedecoding-intensive information that is associated with the characterinformation after the measured time interval on the screen; making thedelay time up to a beginning of image decoding longer in proportion to aclick interval in a fast and continuous search, and making the delaytime up to the beginning of image decoding shorter than the searchinterval in a slow search; updating said character information alonewith regards to Long depression and outputting a release signal toactivate a timer that determines beginning of image decoding; anddetermining whether an image is registered in a registered data of asearch result referring to phone-hook-image registered information andreading information corresponding to a decision result from aphone-book-image information memory section.
 10. A method as claimed inclaim 9, wherein the decoding-intensive information comprises a staticimage file according to a registered display information or anunregistered display information.
 11. A method as claimed in claim 9,wherein the decoding-intensive information comprises a motion videofile.
 12. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the decoding-intensiveinformation comprises an audio file.
 13. A method as claimed in claim 9,wherein the data repository structure is a phone book.
 14. A method asclaimed in claim 9, wherein the data repository structure is a messagingin-box.
 15. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with a computerprogram, containing a set of instructions to perform a method forsearching character information and decoding-intensive informationstored in a data repository structure of a portable telephone, themethod including: receiving input commands for searching the datarepository structure; displaying character information in response tothe input commands on a screen; measuring time intervals between theinput commands; decoding the decoding-intensive information inaccordance with the measured time intervals; displaying thedecoding-intensive information that is associated with the characterinformation after the measured time interval on the screen; making thedelay time up to a beginning of image decoding longer in proportion to aclick interval in a fast and continuous search, and making the delaytime up to the beginning of image decoding shorter than the searchinterval in a slow search; updating said character information alonewith regards to long depression and outputting a release signal toactivate a timer that determines beginning of image decoding; anddetermining whether an image is registered in a registered data of asearch result referring to phone-book-image registered information andreading information corresponding to a decision result from aphone-book-image information memory section.
 16. A computer-readablestorage medium as claimed in claim 15, wherein the decoding-intensiveinformation comprises a static image data file according to a registereddisplay information or an unregistered display information.
 17. Acomputer-readable storage medium as claimed in claim 15, wherein thedecoding-intensive information comprises a motion video data file.
 18. Acomputer-readable storage medium as claimed in claim 15, wherein thedecoding-intensive information comprises an audio file.
 19. Acomputer-readable storage medium as claimed in claim 15, wherein thedata repository structure is a phone book.
 20. A computer-readablestorage medium as claimed in claim 15, wherein the data repositorystructure is a messaging in-box.
 21. A wireless communication device asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the key input comprises another keydepression or a continuously depressed key, which makes a display modeswitch to a scrolling display mode.
 22. A method as claimed in claim 9,wherein the decoding-intensive information is decoded only if themeasured time interval exceeds a predetermined time interval.
 23. Acomputer-readable storage medium as claimed in claim 15, wherein thedecoding-intensive information is decoded only if the measured timeinterval exceeds a predetermined time interval.